Bed bottom



Aug. 14, 1934. B. MclNTOSH 1,970,387

, BED BOTTOM Filed June 6, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l all "0 o o INVENTOR Jam/10ma BY B. MCINTOSH BED BOTTOM Aug. '14, 1934.

Filed June 6, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 INVENTOR W 110% Patented Aug. 14, 1934 Y 3i UNITED STATES PATENT FFlCE Burtnett McIntosh, Floral Park, N. Y., as-

signor 'to Frank A. Hall & Sons, New York, N. Y.

Application June 6, 1933, Serial-No. 674,481

5 Claims. (01. 5-69) My present invention relates to bed bottoms Fig.5" is a sectional detail taken substantially and bed springs, and aims to provide certain imalong the plane of the broken line 5--5 of Fig. 3. provements therein. More particularly it relates 1 Fig.6 is a sectional detail taken substantially to'articula'ted bed bottoms designed for hospital along the plane of the line 6-6 of Fig. 4. 5i use. l Referring to the drawings wherein I have shown An object of my invention is to provide a bed my invention applied to an articulated bed botbottom which will have greater cushioning qualitom mounted upon a bedstead A, let B indicate ties than the link fabric bottoms conventionally the ends of the bed bottom frame which consists used in hospital beds and which will permit arof a central or intermediate fixed section having .101. ticulationof the various sections while affording side members C, an articulated back-supporting maximum comfort to a patient lying thereon. A section having side members D hingedly confurther object is to provide a bed bottom or bed nected to the members C at c, a thigh-supporting spring composed of a composite coil spring fabric section having side members E hingedly connected and link fabric which will be non-sagging, nonto the members 0 at 20, and a leg-supporting 111 5; stretchable, and which will always return to its section having side members'l which are hingedinitialshape when relieved of compression forces 1y connected to the members E at e.

acting thereon. A further object is to provide a Each of the bed bottom sections is preferably bed b ttom 01 bed Spring whe n 00 Sp n formed with a resilient cushion consisting of a. are relied p 170 PrOVide he ushioning action plurality of double volute springs G disposed in i392 While a flexible link fabric is relied po 0 D- rows in axially spaced relation, said rows extend- .25. description which follows, I accomplish by p the adjacent springs of adjacent rows of springs p the Weight of t p s ly o S d ing transversely of the bed bottom. The end conbottem.- Y volutions of each of the springs G is formed with .T e foregoing and h Objects O y i substantially straight ofiset' portions 9 at diatiOn, Which Will become apparent from a detailed metrically opposite parts of said convolutions, and

0v Viding a b d bottom which is preferably Composed are hingedly connected together at 'both their of coiled cushioning Sp a r d in rows tops and bottoms through the medium of clips H WhlChare held in assembled relation by flexible having portions thereof engaging around aid offtop a d b ttom ab which, in turn, preferably. set portions 9'. The clips H are each formed with 2.3. Consist 7 links and Clips extending tranSVerSely ail-elongated central opening it for receiving the of the bed bottom and connected to the sides t rn d back e of u k J which serve t com thereof by helical springs, said flexible fabrics nect the clips in rows transversely of the bed botbeing connec d respectively to h p d to tom, and thus function to hold the springs G in the bottom convolutions of the cushioning cells an assembled, readily foldaole, cushioning fab- 2 5 in a manner to permit free flexing of the bed rlc.

5 portion of a bed bottom embodying my i ent 1155; of the broken line 4l of Fig. 3.

bottom in all directions and a folding action The clips H and links J of each row may be dethereof transversely of its length. The inven-. fined as a strand, and the terminal links of each tion will be better understood from the detailed strand re piv ll connected to p t Kthr ugh description, when considered in conjunction with openings 76 therein Said plates K are preferi accompanying drawings Showing a ref rred ably formed with a plurality of such openings embodiment of my invention, and whereim sultably spaced therein, and the plates at the ends Figure l is a longitudinal section through a bed of each Strand a longitudinally connelPted bottom embodying my invention, said section ggt fig i gg g i kg t saidgnkls i o g1 sai openings 111 Sal p a es.

131213? leaks? Fsiigbsztantially along the plane of the 1 ;-I f l: J f i g providgd by the r" .cips ,ins ,perorae paesKan linksJ, F 2 1S t Vlew of bed bottom'em' are resiliently supportedby the side members bodymg f tm C, D, E and F, respectively, of the bed bottom 3 an enlarged transverse Section of sections, through the medium of helical springs I L and M which are alternately arranged and consaid section being taken substantially along the nected t aidlside members by an end loop of plane of the llne 3-3 0 4. .7 each of said springs engaging in an opening in Fig. 4 is a top plan view of a ortion of the said side members; The springs L are designed to bed bottom taken substantially along the plane resiliently. support the flexible link fabric disposedat, the top of the volute springs G, and

connected thereto, while the springs M serve to support the flexible link fabric disposed at the bottom of the volute springs G and connected thereto. To provide a connecting medium between the upper link fabric and the springs L and to reinforce said fabric longitudinally and more equally distribute the supporting action of the springs therefor along its longitudinal dimension, the top link fabric is provided with a supplemental longitudinal strand consisting of links J and plates K, which strand is connected to the longitudinal strand at the terminal ends of the transverse strands through the medium of links J it being understood that the various links are all,

non-detachably connected to the plates K by having the ends of said links engaging through the openings in said plates and being bent back upon themselves in a well known manner to permit of limited pivotal action between said parts. For suitably resiliently supporting the flexible link fabric at the bottom of the spring G, the terminals of the adjacent transverse strands are connected to springs lVI through the medium of V-shaped links J the anchoring loop at the end of the spring lVl engaging in the bights of said We and the free ends of said We engaging in openings It in the plates K, as best shown in Fig. 5.

Between the fixed intermediate section of the bed bottom and the back-supporting section and the thigh-supporting section, respectively, I prefer to leave a transverse space between the adjacent rows of springs G to permit free flexing of the cushioning springs G without distortion as the bed sections are moved relatively to each other. To prevent the mattress from engaging within said upper space and being caught therein during the flattening out of the bed bottom, I provide helical springs N, the ends of which engage in the openings in the clips H. I may likewise provide one or more springs 0 between the end rows of springs G and the ends B of the frame for preventing the ends of the mattress engaging in the space between said ends and springs, which springs may also serve to provide-a more equitable tension and resilient support for said end rows of springs, especially the springs of said rows that are disposed approximately midway between the sides of the bed bottom.

From an inspection of Fig. 3 it will be apparent that the double volute springs G normally hold the flexible link fabrics at the top and at the bottom of said springs in substantially parallel spaced and tensioned relation, and it will also be apparent that as the weight of a patient lying on said bed bottom compresses the springs G, the cushioning action afforded by said springs will be a maximum, since the weight of the patient is.

primarily borne by the link fabrics which are resiliently tensioned by the helical springs L and M. It will also be apparent that the weight of a patient when bearing upon the back-supporting section or the thigh-supporting section or the legsupporting section when any of said sections are I in inclined relation to the fixed section will be I linkfabrics at the top and at the bottom thereof and the supporting helical springs L and M for said link fabrics, sagging and stretching of the cushioned bed bottom *will be prevented, thereby not only prolonging the life of such bed bottoms,

l but also insuring maximum comfort for patients.

From the foregoing detailed description it will be appreciated that while I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention and the manner in which the same is constructed and functions, I do not wish to be limited to said details of construction, since it will be apparent that the same may be varied without departing fromthe spirit of my invention.

What I claim is:

l. A bed bottom consisting of a frame and a resilient cushion supported wholly by two parallel elements of the frame, said cushion comprising a plurality of coil springs disposed in rowsextending transversely to the supporting elements of the frame, clips hingedly connecting the springs of adjacent rows at their tops and bottoms respectively, links flexibly connecting the clips between the rows of springs at the tops and bottoms of the springs respectively, and helical springs connecting the terminals of the rows of links and clips to the supporting" elements of the frame.

2. A bed spring or the like comprising a frame, a plurality of double volute springs disposed in rows in axially spaced relation, the end convolutions of said springs having substantially straight offset portions at diametrically spaced points, the offset portions of the springs extending in parallel relation to the rows of springs, clips hingedly connected to the springs of adjacent rows at both the tops and bottoms thereof at their offset por-- tions, links connecting the clips between the re-- spective rows of springs, secondary links connecting the terminal links at each end of the respective rows of links and clips, and resilient means connecting the link fabrics thus provided at both the tops and bottoms of the springs to the side members of the frame.

3. An articulated bed bottom comprising relatively movable sections having side frame elements through'which the sections are hingedly connected together, each section having'a plu rality of rows of coil springs extending transversely to the side frame elements with their axes disposed substantially at right angles to the planes of the respective sections, the coil springs of adjacent rows of each section being connected together at their tops and bottoms respectively to form a cushion, and said cushion being resi1- iently supported wholly by the side frame elements of the respective sections.

4. An articulated bed bottom comprising relatively movable sections having side frame elements through which the sections are hingedly connected together, each section having a plurality of rows of coil springs extending transversely to the side frame elements with their axes disposed substantially at right angles to the planes of the respective sections, clips flexibly connecting the springs of adjacent rows together at their top and bottom convolutions respectively, links connecting the clips between adjacent rows of springs to provide articulated strands, and resilient means connecting the ends of said strands to the side frame elements of the sections whereby the coil springs are resiliently supported whol- 1y by the side frame elements. f

5. An articulated bed bottom comprising a fixed section and a movable section hingedly connected to the fixed section, each section having a resilient cushion consisting of flexible top and bottom articulated link fabrics and coil springs disposed in rows at right angles to the side frame elements disposed in between said fa'brics'with the end convolutionsof the springs articulatedly elements of the sections, and means between said resilient cushions at the hingedly connected sections of the bed bottom for preventing the mattress from catching therebetween during the articulation of the sections.

BURTNETT MCINTOSH. 

